rom Mr. Schumacher's letter, that,
besides Mr. George Bond, Dr. Bremeker lost the medal because he allowed
a single post-day to pass before he announced his discovery. There
could, in his case, be no difficulty in establishing the fact of his
priority, nor any doubt of the good faith with which it was asserted.
But inasmuch as Miss Mitchell's discovery was actually made known to Mr.
Bond by the next mail which left your island, it is possible--barely
possible--that this may be considered as a substantial compliance with
the regulation. At any rate, it is worth trying; and if we can do no
more we can establish the lady's claim to all the credit of the prior
discovery. I shall therefore apply to Mr. Bond for the letter which you
wrote, and if it contains nothing improper to be seen by others we will
forward it to the Danish minister at Washington with a certified extract
from your journal. I will have a certified copy of all these papers
prepared and sent to Mr. Schumacher; and if any departure from the
letter of the regulations is admissible, this would seem to be a case
for it. I trust Miss Mitchell's retiring disposition will not lead her
to oppose the taking of these steps.

"I am, dear sir, with great respect, faithfully yours,

[Signed] "EDWARD EVERETT."

* * * * *

POSTSCRIPT TO MR. EVERETT'S LETTER TO PROFESSOR SCHUMACHER OF THE 15TH
JANUARY, 1848.

"P.S.--The foregoing was written to go by the steamer of the 15th, but
was a few hours too late. I have since received some information in
reference to the comet of October which leads me to hope that you may
feel it in your power to award the medal to Miss Maria Mitchell. Miss
Mitchell saw the comet at half-past ten o'clock on the evening of
October 1st. Her father, a skilful astronomer, made an entry in his
journal to that effect. On the third day of October he wrote a letter to
Mr. Bond, the director of our observatory, announcing the discovery.
This letter was despatched the following day, being the first post-day
after the discovery of the comet. This letter I transmit to you,
together with letters from Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Bond to myself.
Nantucket, as you are probably aware, is a small, secluded island, lying
off the extreme point of the coast of Massachusetts. Mr. Mitchell is a
member of the executive council of Massachusetts and a most respectable
person.

"As the claimant is a young lady of great diffidence, the place a